| North Star Academy

John A

Though only in the first grade, John already knows the value of a good education. He plans to follow in his aunt's footsteps and attend Princeton University. John began at North Star as a kindergartner.

Although it was a tough choice, John says Coach Purefoy is his favorite teacher so far. His role model, however, is Barack Obama "because he is the first African-American President of the United States."

John loves rapping and dancing. For fun, he also likes to spend time with his neighbor.

Francys V

My first year at North Star was an interesting one since not only did I have new friends but I was also adjusting to how everything worked. I remember my first friend at North Star, Yaneé. She and I met during induction and instead of shying away from one another we became close and told each other funny stories about our family members. The funny moments we shared made transitioning to North Star easier because I knew North Star would become my family.

Ms. V. Hall

I'm an alumus of South Carolina State University with a major in Speech Language Pathology and a concentration in Audiology. I taught for five years in the public schools of South Carolina and one year in New Jersey.

What inspires you?
I could make a list of a 100 things that inspire me. It could be something someone said or something I’ve seen. People, children, learning, flowers, a kind word, acts of kindness. The list can go on and on.

Desiree Pratt

My class traveled to the courthouse to see a performance for black history month. Upon meeting one of the judges, one of my first grade students asked him, "Sir, do you execute people if they violate the law?" The judge was so flabbergasted—not at the question, but at the eloquence of the statement—that all he could say was, "I can tell that you are getting a great education at your school!"

Michael Mann

I graduated from Harvard College with an undergraduate degree in Government. Then I obtained a master's degree from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in Teaching and Curriculum and another master's from Columbia Teachers College in educational leadership.

Amy Soules

I received my B.S. from Cornell University in Human Development & Family Studies. I loved my major and all the courses were fascinating to me. It’s also the kind of degree where you spend a lot of time after graduation figuring out what you are going to do next. I worked for a small boarding school in NY state for two years. Then I moved to Florida and worked for Disney entertainment performing in shows and parades, and did lots of waitressing, furthering my study of human behavior.